Social media agent of change: BJP

THE HANS INDIA |
Jan 05,2015 , 08:18 AM IST

Tirupati: Social media could not be wiped out and it’s here to stay, observed BJP national general secretary Muralidhar Rao while speaking at a workshop on `Social media as an agent of change and empowerment’ here on Sunday. He said that social media would help furthering the cause of the conventional media and it was complimentary in the sense that it was the logical extension of the conventional media and not competitive to it. In the post-Godhra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced the media trial, which was continued by the main stream media for about 12 years, without giving him a chance to explain his case, but he could overcome it by connecting to people through social media, he said while explaining the capability of the social media as a pivotal means for empowerment.

He further stated that you could rope in the politicians or bureaucrats and even the conventional electronic and print media but you could not take it for granted the social media. “The entire society is under the scrutiny of people. Thousands of cameras may flash at any time,” he said cautioning those in public life particularly the politician to behave properly.

In this connection, he wanted the government to take note of the reports in social media too, about any incidents—may be in hospitals, police stations or in public places etc—for remedial action to help the victims, which automatically enhance the image of it. He lamented that the government was confining itself to react only on the negative reports in the conventional media.

Lok Satta Party (LSP) national president Jayaprakash Narayan recalled how his party in the absence of a vibrant social media was forced to labour hard for collecting information on corruption from thousands of people in 2,000. He said that the opportunities were now aplenty for collecting such information from lakhs of people, thanks to the active social media which is burgeoning day by day. “You can do wonders with the help of the active social media,” he added.

“There is no unrestricted freedom in the social media, as the Constitution has not provided absolute freedom. You have to maintain restraint with regard to sensitive issues like religion, national security and integrity,” he averred. SV University Vice-Chancellor W Rajendra, Sidhartha Group of Colleges Chairman K Asok Raju, BJP district secretary and programme convener S Srinivas and others were present.